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On April 1, 2015, Posted by Mike Brown, In Energy Efficiency, With Comments Off on Spring And Fall “Shoulder Months” Will Make Or Break Your Energy Budget

Spring and fall “shoulder months” hold your best opportunities for low-to-no cost energy savings. If you know how to find them, you stand to save a whole lot of money (and have a healthier building for it). If not, you risk blowing your energy budget during these moderate temperature months….

If your building has any kind of central heating system, this might be the most valuable tip I can give you: subscribe to Dan Holohan’s newsletter. If Holohan is new to you, then you’re in for a treat. I can’t think of anyone who knows more about heating, but on…

On March 24, 2015, Posted by Shawn O'Toole, In Tip Of The Week, With Comments Off on 5 things that you can do to increase building efficiency, today:

Shawn’s Tip Of The Week: This week, we’re focusing on the low-hanging fruit. Installing more efficient equipment or changing policy pays off, but it takes a lot of work, time, and/or money. Rather than focus on those, however, today we’re going to look at what’s cheap, easy, and actionable. Here…

Shawn’s Tip Of The Week: Use a smoke stick to stop unwanted air movement For this week’s tip, I’ll defer to the 32BJ Training Fund‘s great video on air sealing. In it, Victor Nazario uses a smoke stick to detect drafts in an apartment building. He then seals those problem areas,…

Shawn’s Tip Of The Week: Check And Change Your Air Filters Everyone knows that changing air filters is one of the most basic parts of building maintenance. But it’s easy to let simple things like this fall behind and end up with a facility that’s running inefficiently. It’s never a…

On March 11, 2015, Posted by Joshua Cordero, In Technology, With Comments Off on Mobile Technology Helps Facilities Engineers Run Hospitals Better

It seems that we can’t go a week without seeing another article about how healthcare workers use mobile technology to improve patient care. But what about the engineers who take care of the actual facilities? Like a doctor is in charge of a person’s health, engineers are responsible for their…

Shawn’s Tip Of The Week: Conduct freeze rounds whenever the temperature drops As this year’s exceptionally cold weather continues to take its toll on many of our cities, engineers like you are the first line of defense tasked with keeping our buildings comfortable and safe. Freezing conditions can cause huge…

A burst pipe on the roof of a New York City hotel on Monday forced 600 guests to evacuate, according to NBC New York. Don’t let this happen to you. Inspect any pipe or piece of equipment that’s exposed to the cold, especially your roof tanks. Plunging temperatures across the country make…

On February 6, 2015, Posted by Shawn O'Toole, In Tip Of The Week, With Comments Off on Shawn’s Tip Of The Week: Monitor Stack Temperatures To Schedule Cleanings Strategically

Last week, I explained how tracking make-up water levels could help you diagnose various problems in a closed-loop system like steam heat. This week, I’ll show you why you should pay attention to your stack temperature and how it can help you save thousands on fuel each year while extending…

On February 2, 2015, Posted by Kristina Wiig, In Safety, With Comments Off on Engineers, Protect Yourself With Snow Removal Logs

Keeping the outside of your building safe is just as important as keeping the inside safe. With all of the nasty weather over the last few weeks, we know you’re breaking your backs to properly remove snow and ice from your sidewalks and walkways. You should get credit for your…